We've known Microsoft is working on Windows 12, or some kind of successor to Windows 11, for some time now, but a new report has just given us a good look at what the company is planning. While the Windows 12 name hasn't been confirmed yet, the next big Windows release, codenamed Hudson Valley, will land sometime next fall with a big focus on AI features, which will be infused into all parts of the Windows experience.

Microsoft has also once again revamped its roadmap for Windows. While we were expecting Windows 12 to be the big release for the next three years with smaller features in between, it looks like the company has now backtracked on that and will go back to an annual update cadence for Windows starting next year.

New Windows 12 (Hudson Valley) features

AI everywhere

It had already been reported that AI was going to be a big part of the next Windows release, but now we have some clearer examples of what that means. It's worth noting that most of these features will require an NPU, which means only modern devices will really be able to make use of them. Until this year, the only devices that really had dedicated NPUs were those with Arm processors.

The report from Windows Central's Zac Bowden mentions that the next Windows release will feature an AI-powered Windows shell, meaning that Copilot will be built into every part of the experience. One example is search, where you'll be able to use natural language queries to find files on your PC. For example, you could type "find me the file I was working on last Sunday", and Windows would be able to understand that input.

What's more, this "advanced copilot" can remember the content you've looked at on your PC and create a timeline, so you can then search for any term that was on screen and have Windows take you back to what you were looking at. The concept of a Windows timeline is something Microsoft did try with Windows 10, but it was scrapped after a few years. Another noteworthy improvement is with live captions, which will apparently be able to not only caption video, but translate it in real time as you watch a video or partake in a call.

AI will also power a Super Resolution feature, which can automatically enhance the quality of games and videos played on your PC, which sounds familiar to what Nvidia offers with DLSS and RTX Video Super Resolution. AI will also be used to create animated wallpapers with a parallax effect based on your photos.

Energy efficiency and more

Aside from AI, Microsoft is also focused on making Windows more power-efficient with new energy saver improvements that can apparently extend battery life by as much as 50% (on some devices). You'll also be able to set your device to prefer charging when the power grid in your area is using renewable energy in order to reduce emissions.

The Start menu is also getting some changes, with a new "Creator" area that's essentially a series of shortcuts to Microsoft 365 tools. You'll find things like Designer, Clipchamp, PowerPoint, and more here. The Windows shell itself could also be changing, with system tray elements shown at the top of the screen, something the company did show off last year, albeit without context. However, the report indicates this is still an experiment within Microsoft and it could end up launching later.

The new Windows roadmap

Back to annual updates

Shortly after Windows 11 launched, it was reported that Microsoft was going to be switching to a 3-year release cycle, with Windows 11 being followed by Windows 12 three years later. In the meantime, Windows 11 would get smaller feature updates to keep things fresh, and that would repeat going forward. Apparently, that will no longer be the case, and Microsoft is going back to the annual release cycle that was in place during the Windows 10 era. That also means there won't be smaller "Moment" updates in between each release. This will come into effect after Hudson Valley launches, so there may still be another feature update in early 2024 before its release.

One thing that's not yet clear is whether Hudson Valley will indeed be called Windows 12 or not. There's a growing worry inside Microsoft that the userbase is becoming fragmented, and it would be preferable to have all users on the same version of Windows rather than create a whole new version of Windows to split the userbase further. However, no decision has been made either way.

Getting ready for the Snapdragon X Elite

One thing that's interesting is that Hudson Valley will be based on the Germanium platform release, and that platform update is set to hit RTM in April. However, Hudson Valley itself won't RTM until August, with a general release in September or October. The platform changes have more to do with the underlying tech, and it looks like Microsoft wants to have it ready earlier so that Arm devices powered by the Snapdragon X Elite can ship with it preinstalled.

Indeed, it's said that the Germanium platform has important changes for the Snapdragon X Elite and these PCs can't be shipped with the current version of Windows 11, but manufacturers want to ship them in June 2024. As such, these Arm-based PCs will ship with the Germanium platform release, but they won't have all the Hudson Valley features out of the box. They'll have to wait for the update coming a few months later, but it will simply be a cumulative update. For everyone else, Hudson Valley will release alongside the Germanium platform release as one big feature update, like Windows 11 was to Windows 10.

Windows CorePC is still in the works

But it won't be here with Hudson Valley

Something we've been expecting with Windows 12 was the debut of CorePC, an effort to modernize Windows and make it more modular and adaptable to different kinds of devices. The latest report reinforces that this project is still in the works, and the concept remains the same. In addition to being more adaptable, this version of Windows would also be more secure since OS files and drivers would be separated from user files.

CorePC won't be an update for existing Windows users, though, as the platform changes required to make this work are too big for a PC to be able to simply upgrade. Instead. you'll likely have to buy a new laptop or PC that ships with CorePC already. One of the versions of CorePC trhat's being worked on is meant to compete with ChromeOS, which mostly runs on low-end devices, a market that Windows 11 can't cover very well outside of Windows 11 SE.

With all that being said, Windows CorePC is seemingly not part of the Hudson Valley release, which will still be just an update to existing PCs. It's not clear when Microsoft is planning to make this transition, however.